


A Pleasant Surprise

by dwarrowdams



Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [11]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, Rabbits, if not more, oh my god almost half of this series is about rabbits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowdams/pseuds/dwarrowdams
Summary: Sage the rabbit has kits, much to everyone's surprise.  Set a few weeks after "Honey-Cakes." TW for non-graphic descriptions of a rabbit giving birth.
Series: Eadgyd, But Not Sad [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877335
Kudos: 2
Collections: All the Eadgyd All the Time





	A Pleasant Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually one of the first Eadgyd pieces I wrote, but I did that thing where I got really perfectionist about it and let it sit for months, only to finish it easily when I returned to it.
> 
> Anyways, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it in this series, but everyone uses they/them pronouns for Sage because a) it's hard to tell a rabbit's sex when they're young and b) Frida (Sage's mom/owner) was like "rabbits don't even know what gender is" and everyone else was like "fair enough."

Eadgyd was enjoying a relaxing cup of tea with Avina when Hild rushed into the room, looking somewhat frazzled.

“Dear, what’s wrong?” Avina asked as she turned towards her wife.

“I’m fine,” Hild said. “But it seems as though Sage is pregnant—they’re having kits in the kitchen as we speak.”

Avina’s eyebrows shot up in shock. “Sage is what?” she cried. “Did Frida say anything before she left?”

Both Hild and Eadgyd shook their heads.

“Did Sage seem to have any trouble?”

Hild shrugged. “I wouldn’t have known they were giving birth if I hadn’t looked more closely,” she said. “It almost looked as though Sage was simply sitting in the basket and licking themself.”

“Then we can only hope all is well,” Avina said as she set down her tea and hurried into the other room, Eadgyd and Hild right behind her.

The three of them found Sage settled in their basket, two newborn rabbit kits beneath them. Sage’s body contracted and the head of a third kit emerged.

“They look all right,” Hild said hesitantly. “Can you take a closer look, love?”

Avina nodded as she moved towards the basket, crouching so as not to startle Sage. The rabbit’s eyes flicked up towards Avina momentarily before returning to the two kits squirming beneath them.

“Look at you, sitting in your basket and having kits as though you do it every day,” Avina murmured. “If only all of us had it so easy, hmm?”

Sage looked at her briefly before returning their attention to the third kit, which had fully emerged. It was difficult to tell from where she stood, but it seemed to Eadgyd that there was a fourth on its way.

“How many kits does a rabbit normally have?” Hild asked.

“Usually between four and twelve, but sometimes as many as fourteen,” Avina replied. “And Sage can’t have been pregnant for more than a month, so they must’ve gotten pregnant shortly before Frida left.”

“Frida didn’t mention anything about Sage before she left?” Eadgyd asked.

Hild shook her head. “She returned home for a week while you were in Erebor,” she said. “I believe she took Sage to Radagast one day—she said something about needing his help, although I can’t recall the specifics.”

Eadgyd bit back an amused grin. “Did she happen to need help with breeding Sage?” she asked.

Hild and Avina looked at one another, wide-eyed. “I suppose she must’ve,” Avina said at last. “I can’t imagine what else she might’ve needed from him—Sage has been in good health and Frida isn’t the sort to ask questions that aren’t of interest to her.”

Hild nodded in agreement. “I do remember that she seemed awfully excited, but I was too tired to ask why. I was too exhausted from cleaning up after Eadgar the day before. I did see Sage nesting a week or so ago, but I figured it was just another false pregnancy—she has one every couple of months.”

“She ought to have remembered that she was speaking with two new mothers,” Eadgyd replied. “Perhaps you should’ve remembered too, but she also should’ve reminded you more than once.”

“Well, there’s no use casting blame now,” Avina said. “All that’s left to do is insure that Sage gives birth safely.”

  
  


* * *

Half an hour later, Sage sat in the basket, grooming their new kits. They hadn’t had any trouble with the birth and seemed pleased with the wrinkly pink kits squirming in the basket.

“How many are there?” Hild asked. “It’s hard to count them all when they’re so small and wriggling so much.”

“Thirteen,” Avina said exhaustedly. “There’s one that might not last the night, but the other twelve look in good health.”

“Then I suppose our work here is done,” Eadgyd replied “For tonight, at least—I don’t think that Sage can handle thirteen kits all by themself.”

“Oh, we’ll definitely have to help them,” Avina said. “There are bound to be a few who don’t get enough milk.”

“Don’t you worry about it—I can help Sage,” Eadgyd said. “You two already have your hands full with Eadgar. The last thing you need is a dozen rabbit kits to look after.”

“Thank you, sister,” Avina said, giving Eadgyd a brief hug. “I’m not sure I could handle that many babies—not with one human one as well.”

Eadgyd shrugged. “They’re young and can barely move—I doubt they’ll trouble me much.”

Avina smirked. “Just wait until they’re a little bigger,” she said. “You may find them to be more trouble than you expected.”

Before Eadgyd could inquire further, Avina and Hild went off to their room.

“Well, I suppose I’ll live to regret that,” Eadgyd murmured as she turned her gaze to Sage and their kits. The basket was big enough to hold them all with a bit of room left over, but it would become awfully crowded as soon as the kits started to grow.

“My first job is to find you a bigger basket,” Eadgyd said. “You look perfectly snug now, but pretty soon, there won’t be space for all of you. We don’t want anyone left out on the floor, do we?”

Sage surveyed their kits before looking at Eadgyd, as if asking her to find a bigger basket as quickly as possible.

“I’ll do so first thing in the morning,” Eadgyd promised. “But now it’s time for us both to rest.”

She crouched down beside Sage and the rabbit lowered their head so that Eadgyd could pet it. “You’ve done well,” she said, gently stroking Sage’s nose. “You’re going to be a marvelous parent.”

Sage closed their eyes for a moment, enjoying Eadgyd’s touch, before they nudged Eadgyd’s hand away and returned their attention to their kits.

“All right, I’ll let you rest,” she said. “You’ll certainly need it with thirteen kits clamoring around you. We’ll try not to wake you up too early.”

Sage looked up at Eadgyd one last time, presumably hoping that Eadgyd would keep that promise.

Eadgyd smiled down at the rabbit and their kits. “Good night, Sage,” she said as she extinguished the lamp. “Rest as much as you can.”

**Author's Note:**

> A fun fact: it is actually hard to when that rabbits are pregnant and a lot of people legitimately don't know until the rabbit starts giving birth. It also doesn't take a long time for them to give birth (the general rule of thumb is that if it's taken more than an hour, there may be something wrong).
> 
> More bunny content is hopefully coming soon!
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed this!
> 
> Tumblr: dwarrowdams  
> Twitter: @_tenderqueer


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